stiiggy

18th Jul 2022

M*A*S*H (1972)

Show generally

Factual error: Nearly every show depicts the use of disposable plastic syringes, which weren't introduced till 1955, two years after the war ended.

stiiggy

16th Nov 2021

M*A*S*H (1972)

It Happened One Night - S4-E3

Factual error: When the can of beans explodes all over Hawkeye and Hotlips, they act as though the beans are cold. In fact the beans would have been at boiling temperature as the can overheated, causing it to explode, and the two would have been burned.

stiiggy

21st Oct 2021

Battle of Britain (1969)

Character mistake: Many windows only have 1 or 2 panes taped over to prevent glass from shattering when it's hit. Unless every pane is taped over this will achieve next to nothing.

stiiggy

Factual error: The M1 carbines that the Americans uses are fitted with a bayonet lug enabling a bayonet to be fitted to it. This feature wasn't available till AFTER WW2 and first saw service in Korea.

stiiggy

15th Sep 2021

Battle of Britain (1969)

Trivia: The effect of white smoke coming out of the engines that were on fire was achieved by injecting vegetable oil into the exhaust manifold, a "secret" method still used to this day.

stiiggy

29th Jul 2021

Proof of Life (2000)

Other mistake: When Russell Crowe kills the bad guy just before the attack begins, he uses the serrated blade of a Leatherman tool to slit the guys throat. Any special forces soldier would carry and use a killing knife like a Gerber or Ka-bar, or at least use the standard blade on a Leatherman tool.

stiiggy

17th Feb 2021

Point Break (1991)

Factual error: In the intro shots to "Bells Beach" Utah is arriving in an ancient Series 1 Land Rover for some reason and all the "Australian" cars in 1992 are now long forgotten 1950's and 1960's cars. Also the term "Drug Store" is on a sign, that a pure Americanism.

stiiggy

29th Jan 2021

Platoon (1986)

Other mistake: Right at the end of the movie when a wounded Charlie Sheen is getting on the medevac helicopter, he is the only one not wearing a casualty triage tag.

stiiggy

22nd Jan 2021

Apollo 13 (1995)

Question: Since it was so cold on the return journey to Earth, why didn't the astronauts wear their full space suits they wore on lift-off to keep warm? The just seem to be wearing their lightweight flight overalls.

stiiggy

Answer: Because they need to be able to move quickly through the confined space of the module, and the full suits would be far too bulky in an emergency.

The older Apollo missions all splashed down with full suits and helmet on. Just the launch suits, not the much bulkier EVA (moon walk) suits.

stiiggy

Answer: According to Jim Lovell in a later interview about the mission, the crew considered putting on their space suits but in addition to them being too bulky, there was concern the suits would make them perspire too much, thus making them wet and even colder. It wasn't quite as cold as depicted in the movie, it was always above freezing, and there were no icy windows or frozen hot dogs.

raywest

According to Lovell in his book, there actually were frozen hot dogs.

Answer: In addition, since they have to leave the ship after landing, the suit filling with water would be very dangerous.

LorgSkyegon

The launch abort mode was for an ocean landing, so they would have been just as vulnerable at the start of the mission. I get your line of thinking though.

stiiggy

Answer: Don't remember the source (the actual movie or one of many books) but I do remember there were only two moon suits on board (the CMP, Swigert, doesn't land on the moon). I believe they decided to suffer together. I misread the question, but the option for wearing the Lunar EVA suits was considered. IIRC, they did actually wear the boots at one point.

kayelbe

17th Nov 2020

Common mistakes

Stupidity: Any time a character is using a shoulder lanched rocket system like an RPG, LAW, Stinger etc, they never check for the lethal back blast area behind them, frying your mates is seemingly acceptable. Same as firing from inside a room, car etc which would lethal to the firer and anyone else behind them.

stiiggy

9th Oct 2020

First Man (2018)

Factual error: Neil Armstrong actually never trained on the multiple-axis space test inertia facility (MASTIF) gimbal system. All the Mercury astronauts did, but not the Gemini guys. So when his spacecraft spun out of control, Neil brought it back without the experience on the MASTIF simulator.

stiiggy

31st Aug 2020

Hogan's Heroes (1965)

A Russian Is Coming - S3-E12

Factual error: While introducing himself to the downed Russian pilot, Hogan claims he is with the "US Air Force." He was actually with the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) as the US Air Force wasn't formed until 1947, 2 years after the war ended.

stiiggy

20th Aug 2020

Lethal Weapon (1987)

Factual error: In the desert shootout scene Murtagh throws what looks like an M67 "baseball" hand grenade on the ground. They wait for it to explode and Gary Busey says "it's a smoker". M8 smoke grenades look like a soda can, nothing like the baseball shape of a live M67.

stiiggy

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: First, the grenade shown is more like the M61 "lemon" grenade. And there's no telling if Murtaugh/Riggs obtained a M61 based smoke grenade perhaps from a military surplus store that added the smoke effect for realism without the bang, or even a home made by Riggs grenade for this purpose, as opposed to using actual US Military M8 smoke grenades.

Factual error: When Col Steiner is imitating the American's voice over the radio he uses the words "Delta-1" or similar. Delta is part of the NATO phonetic alphabet which wasn't introduced until 1956, well after the war had ended. "Dog" would have been the correct word to use.

stiiggy

29th Jul 2020

Battle of Britain (1969)

Stupidity: Warrant Officer Warrick yells at Section Officer Harvey to put out her cigarette because the gas mains have gone. He ignores the fact that there are fires raging everywhere, which would be much more likely to ignite the gas than a single cigarette.

stiiggy

25th Jul 2020

WarGames (1983)

15th Jul 2020

Hogan's Heroes (1965)

Information Please - S2-E15

Factual error: The German agent pretending to be an American pilot is wearing a one piece flying suit from the 1960's when he is questioned by Hogan and the British escapee in the barracks. It even has the US Air Force logo on the sleeve, which didn't come into use until 1947, after the war.

stiiggy

24th Jun 2020

Danger Close (2019)

Factual error: At one stage a soldier calls the Air Force Ground Liaison Officer "Captain", when his real rank is Group Captain, a much higher rank.

stiiggy

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: 'Captain' (not to be confused with army rank 'captain' equivalent to a flight Lieutenant) is short and informal for the rank of 'group captain'.

22nd Jun 2020

Crimson Tide (1995)

Factual error: Many times the Captain is wearing a red baseball style cap. This is only worn by the Captain when drill is underway to signify, "I'm here, but not really here for the purpose of the exercise."

stiiggy

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